Sure, the Celebrity Big Brother house action is all very fascinating, but to be honest, we’re almost as fascinated by the behind-the-scenes wrangling and off-camera drama.
What sort of payday can you expect if you’re a celeb hoping to make a quick buck? CBB bosses are always very tight-lipped about contracts and fees, but here are some of the rumoured salaries previous famous folk have taken home for sitting about looking a bit silly in a house for a few weeks…
1. Ray J – $1 MILLION
© Channel 5
Perez Hilton revealed that he refused to return to the house because the producers couldn’t offer him enough money – as they’d blown their budget on Ray J. At $1m (about £810,000) – plus a rumoured £24,000 for travel and hotel costs – Kim K’s former sex tape partner and the scribe behind ‘I Hit It First’ is reportedly the highest-paid Celebrity Big Brother contestant ever. He certainly spilled the Kim K beans and told us all about Whitney, but he also spent a lot of time having a snooze.
2. David Gest – £600,000
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Prior to Ray, David reportedly held the title of highest-paid CBB housemate. He was forced to leave the house early for medical reasons, and sadly passed away a few months after his appearance on the show in early 2016.
3. Speidi – $700,000
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Alright, so it’s not as much as Ray J, but Spencer and Heidi were rumoured to be picking up a pretty tidy paycheque for their stay in the house (we don’t know whether their reported demands for fish and chips every day were honoured, though). Mind you, they did have to share the cash between them.
4. Jedward – £500,000… EACH?
© Rex Shutterstock
Some reports have claimed that the spiky-haired puppy dogs pocketed a cool half a million pounds each when they first went into the house back in 2011. Can we assume they might have earned even more second time around?
5. Katie Price – £400,000
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Not bad, eh? Katie Price was rumoured to be picking up £400,000 for her time in the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2015 – not shabby considering she was a late entrant and then won the whole thing. Katie wasn’t even on top form as she had just had surgery, but we think she more than earned her fee by ensuring that Katie Hopkins lost out on the crown.
6. Kellie Maloney – £400,000
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Kellie was a last-minute signing back in 2014 and producers clearly pulled out all the stops to get her, offering her a rumoured £400k. This apparently didn’t go down quite so well with the other celebs, who apparently kicked up a fuss that they were being paid less. Awkward.
7. Stephanie Pratt – £250,000
© Getty Images Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
One of those housemates reportedly not too happy about Kellie’s fee was Stephanie, who had until that moment apparently been on the highest fee. She also seems to have earned less than her brother and sister-in-law got second time around.
8. Perez Hilton – £150,000
© Channel 5
It’s kind of hard to believe now that Perez didn’t get more for his stint in the house, but as a celeb blogger rather than a celeb in his own right, we suppose it sort of makes sense. After all, who could have guessed just how much value for money he would go on to be? His £150k is obviously dwarfed by Ray J’s reported package, though, so perhaps it’s understandable that he turned down the chance to go back.
9. Christopher Biggins – £150,000
At least, that’s what he was supposed to get. Biggins was rumoured to be on a nice big fee for his time in the house but he apparently ended up getting less than half after he was kicked out for making a few unsavoury comments. Let that be a lesson to you, celebs.
10. Sally Bercow – £150,000
© PA Images PA Wire/Ian West
Again, that sounds like a lot of money, but Sally apparently pocketed only £30,000 after giving £100,000 to charity and £20,000 to publicist Max Clifford. Even then, Kate Hoey MP suggested she should give it to the taxpayer because she was a public figure as the speaker’s wife. We don’t think that happened.
11. White Dee – £60,000-£100,000
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Reports vary on just how much White Dee earned for her time in the house, but this was just the start for the Benefits Street star who apparently ended up making a cool million from various TV shows and personal appearances. It’s not all good news, though, as last May she admitted that she was facing financial difficulties.
12. Mutya Buena – £75,000
© Rex Shutterstock
The Sugababes star thought she’d be pocketing a pretty penny for a few days in the CBB house but it didn’t quite work out that way – she was shocked to learn that she may not get her full fee after deciding to quit the house. Mutya ended up deciding to fight the producers for her money, claiming that they failed to protect her from her fellow housemate Coolio.
13. Bruce Jones – £15,000
Poor Bruce. Not only did the former Coronation Street star become one of the lowest-paid CBB housemates ever (at least going by the reported fees) on a tariff of just £15,000, but his former on-screen wife Vicky Entwhistle apparently pocked ten times more: £150,000. To make matters even worse, Bruce had apparently turned down a fee of £55,000 to go on the show the year before. Oh dear.
14. Stephen Bear – £12,000
© Channel 5
Ouch. Stephen Bear openly admitted he only picked up £12k for his efforts – and crikey, what efforts they were, too. But he insisted he didn’t mind about his low pay packet, saying that he “would have done it for nothing”. And he ended up winning the show, then apparently dating Charlotte Crosby, so clearly he knew what he was doing…
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